The Undeniable Offer: How to Create Premium Offers That Sell in Any Economy

In today's volatile business landscape, coaches and consultants face an increasingly crowded marketplace. The average income for coaches hovers around $52,800, while the number of practitioners has grown by 54% in just three years. Add in economic uncertainty, and it's no wonder that winning and keeping clients has become the number one challenge for service-based entrepreneurs.

You may be thinking, “If I only had more leads...” The hard truth is:  You don't have a lead generation problem. You have an offer problem. Let me explain…‍

Why Your Offer Matters More Than Ever‍

The business environment will remain volatile as technology accelerates, the political landscapes shift and financial markets realign. But there is good news. Money is always flowing into solutions that are deemed essential. It’s your offer positioning that determines whether your service is considered "essential."

Think of it this way: If you were an umbrella vendor, how many umbrellas would you sell on a beautiful sunny day? Probably not many. But during a downpour? You'd sell out in minutes. This is the perfect analogy for your offer. It needs to go from "nice to have" to "have to have" – like an umbrella salesman during a rainstorm.

When I first started my coaching business, I positioned myself as a "life reinvention coach" for women in midlife. By year three, I had invested $80,000 in my own coaching support but was making only $50,000 annually. Clients didn't see my offer as a must-have. 

Everything changed when I tapped into the full spectrum of my experience and shifted to helping entrepreneurs create offers people actually wanted to buy. In year one after this pivot, I doubled my revenue. In year two, I doubled it again. For the next three years, we experienced 70% growth year over year.

“Your offer must solve an urgent problem that potential clients already know they have. If you have to educate the market about the problem, you're already losing before you even start.

‍The Undeniable Offer Framework‍

How do you go about creating an “undeniable offer?” It’s the same process any entrepreneur would go through to create a new offer regardless of the economy or environment. An undeniable offer is one that is relevant to what is happening now for your ideal clients. This process works in any economy, buyer market, or political climate, and it requires three essential elements.

1. Identify the urgent problem your clients already know they have
   
   • Focus on problems they're actively seeking solutions for
   • Target issues that are causing immediate pain or potential loss
   • Position yourself as the expert who deeply understands their situation
2. Package your expertise into a high-value, scalable framework
   
   • Create a repeatable process that delivers consistent results
   • Build a solution that feels tangible and trustworthy
   • Structure your approach in a way that's easy to communicate
3. Present a clear and compelling promise that eliminates hesitation
   
   • Articulate the transformation they'll experience
   • Quantify the return on advantage (ROA) whenever possible
   • Address the psychological barriers that prevent immediate action

“When these three elements come together, you create an offer that's virtually impossible to refuse – not because it's cheap, but because the value is undeniable.”‍

The Must-Have Offer Shift‍

For too long, coaches and consultants have positioned themselves around their credentials or methodologies. "I'm an executive coach" or "I'm a fractional CMO" might describe what you do, but it doesn't speak to the urgent problem you solve.

Today's market demands specificity. You need to dial into a very specific problem you solve for a very specific group of people. This isn't about narrowing your skills – it's about focusing your message.‍

Consider this: if you're looking at lead generation as your problem and throwing money at Facebook ads or LinkedIn connections, it's a wasted effort if your offer isn't compelling. 

No program or offer is meant to have infinite shelf life. You must remain relevant to get hired.

The intersection of three critical elements creates your opportunity zone.

• An urgent problem that needs solving
• Problem-aware buyers who recognize their pain
• People with the ability to pay for your solution
  

When you hit this sweet spot, your offer becomes undeniable.

Premium Pricing: The Counter-Intuitive Truth

One of the biggest mistakes coaches and consultants make is assuming that lowering their prices will make selling easier. 

“In reality, the lower your price, the harder it is to sell, the less invested your clients are, and the less likely they'll get results.”

In 2016, after constantly hearing "I can't afford that" for my $2,497 coaching program, I decided to create a scaled-down version for $697. It was a complete nightmare. It was harder to sell (I still had to do sales calls), the clients who bought weren't invested in their transformation, they missed sessions, and some even asked for refunds. That was the last time I ever reduced my prices.‍

Here are the three pricing mistakes that are costing you money:

1. Charging by the hour
   
   • No one is buying an hour of your time; they're buying a solution
   • When you charge by the hour, people start judging your value by time
   • Hourly rates cap your income and undervalue your expertise (if you have accumulated decades of expertise, results take no time.)
2. Pricing based on competitive offers
   
   • If you charge what everyone else charges, why would anyone choose you?
   • Competitive pricing leads to a race to the bottom
   • It positions you as a commodity, not a premium solution
3. Preemptively discounting your prices
   
   • When you assume what someone can afford, you rob them of valuing themselves
   • Projected scarcity attracts clients with the same mindset
   • Discounting signals a lack of confidence in your value
     

Instead, embrace the Return on Advantage® (ROA) pricing formula. Your fee should reflect the cost of inaction your clients experience over time, multiplied by the estimated return they'll receive from solving the problem.

“When clients see your offer as urgent and high-value, they find the money. The question becomes not "Can I afford this?" but "How can I afford this?" – which is a much more empowering question.”

Finding Your Profit Sweet Spot

There's a balance between undercharging and overpricing. To find your sweet spot, ask yourself:

• If I had to charge double my current price, what would need to change?
• Does this price make me excited to deliver my offer?
• Would my clients receive at least 10x the fee they paid?

When you think in terms of ROA, you'll stop obsessing over what an hour of your time is worth and start focusing on the value transformation you provide.

One client at your dream price might be more profitable than three clients at your old price. Doing a profitability analysis is crucial – factoring in your time, resources, technology, and overhead costs.

Positioning Yourself as the Premium Choice

Clients want the best, not the cheapest. No one wakes up thinking, "Who's the cheapest consultant I can hire today?" They want solutions from experts they can trust.

To position yourself as the premium choice:

• Be specific about the transformation you deliver
• Communicate with clarity and confidence
• Stand out with a unique point of view
• Build a moat around your business through expertise
  

Compare these two positioning statements:

• "I help you build a business"
• "I help you build a six-figure consulting business in six months without burnout"
  

Which would you choose?

The Psychology of Sales: Why Prospects Say No

Even with the perfect offer and premium positioning, you'll still face objections. Understanding the psychology behind these objections is key to guiding prospects to a confident yes.

There are three primary reasons why prospects don't buy:

1. They don't trust themselves
   
   • They fear making the wrong decision
   • They worry about wasting money
   • They don't believe they can achieve the results
2. They don't trust you
   
   • They need proof that you can deliver
   • They question your expertise or experience
   • They wonder if you truly understand their situation
3. They don't trust the system
   
   • They doubt your solution will work for them
   • They've been burned before by similar programs
   • They believe their situation is "different" or "special"
     

“Most people think price is the biggest objection, but it's never about price. Price is just a smokescreen for deeper trust issues.”

Taking Action: The Cost of Waiting

The biggest threat to your success isn't failure – it's procrastination. As Napoleon Hill wisely observed, "Successful people make decisions quickly and change them very slowly. Unsuccessful people make decisions very slowly and change them often and quickly."

“Your internal insecurity is not market reality. 

The offer you don't make is the offer they can't take.”

One of my clients, Corinna, was facing the end of her severance pay when she joined our Reliable Revenue Mastermind. She had a proprietary framework but struggled to explain it clearly to potential clients. We simplified her messaging so she could articulate her ROA (Return on Advantage®) to prospects. 

Within weeks of dialing in her premium positioning, she closed two clients for a total of nearly $350,000 – to nonprofit organizations, no less. She made more money in nine months than she ever had in her professional career.

Every day you wait to optimize your offer, position yourself premium, and master sales psychology is a day you're leaving money on the table and impact untapped.

Your Undeniable Opportunity

The path to an undeniable  offer involves:

• Proof of demand
• Premium value proposition
• Confident selling
  

As the market becomes more saturated and economic conditions remain uncertain, those without clarity will struggle. But for those who dial in their offer, pricing, and positioning, the opportunities are limitless.

“Your offer is either perceived as an expense or an investment. Position it as an investment, and people will always find the money.”

After experiencing a personal tragedy when her brother lost his job and subsequently took his own life, Lori made a career pivot to help late-career professionals navigate a tough job market. 

With no business foundation whatsoever – just passion and purpose – she joined our Launch Lab program. Within months, she was invited to speak on an Indeed Job Academy panel that had 27,000 people sign up and 12,000 attend live. Her calendar completely filled up, and she's now an in-demand coach helping professionals who are "too young to retire, too old to be hired." 

She's built a thriving business by following a proven system and focusing on an urgent problem that needed solving.

Choose to be in charge of how you interpret what's happening around you. 

Choose to see opportunities where others see obstacles. 

Choose to create an offer so compelling that premium clients don't hesitate.

Because when you do, you'll not only transform your business – you'll transform the lives of the clients who desperately need what only you can provide.

This article is based on "The Unshakable Offer" masterclass by Deb Boulanger, founder of Life After Corporate, The Launch Lab for women entrepreneurs, and the Reliable Revenue Mastermind. Deb helps coaches and consultants create premium offers that sell in any market. Listen to the Life After Corporate Podcast and become a member of the Life After Corporate Community.